Fork upgrade??

[vidal130]

I have been thinking about a fork upgrade on my Orange Elite. I am using the bike more and more but find the travel on my RC35s a bit on the small side for what I am doing trailwise. I dont want to part with the old work horse and can't really afford a newer bike on top of this one, without selling it. Is there any newish fork out there that will fit, to bring the bike a bit more up to date giving more travel and raise the front a bit to give a more modern riding position???

 

[jimihendrix]

The trouble with fitting longer modern forks on an older frame is that it'll knock out the geometry and affect the handling, the Elite will have been made to handle with 60mm travel forks, at a push you could maybe go a bit more but not much, some say if you dial in an inch of sag on long forks when you sit on the bike it restores the handling, dont know the truith in that though.

Also the riding position is a lot to do with frame geometry, you will probably never get a modern riding position with the Elite, if you try and achieve this with high bars, stems and long forks the bike will just look and handle wierd.

 

[vidal130]

Cheers, I thought that might be the case :?

 

[jimihendrix]

Cheers, I thought that might be the case :?

Sorry if it's not what you wanted to hear , the thing with older bikes is that they do have their limitations, a lot of the time it's a case of adjusting your riding style to suit, having said that i was caught out big time last weekend, pretty sure i would have rode out of it if i had longer travel forks than the old Z3's i'm using.

 

[vidal130]

Yeah I came off this morning big style thanks to a rock that just would not get out of the way!

 

[Anthony]

I disagree actually. I would say you would have no problem at all with a 70mm fork. I think your main restriction is the 1" head tube, which probably means that you should stay with Pace, but I think you should be fine with an RC36.
http://www.goatsurfer.com/pace_forks.html#1997
I think that in 97 and 98 the MXCD was sold at 70, but switchable to 90, while the more expensive Pro Class was the other way around.

The extra inch of length won't mess up the handling, but I suggest you fit a shorter stem and/or swept risers which will quicken up the steering and counterbalance the effect of the slacker head angle.

It shouldn't cost you much - an RC36 isn't worth all that much more than the RC35, say £100 vs £75 typically. And you should be able to sort something with the steerers - maybe even keep the one you've got?

 

[vidal130]

Ok i will think about that.